LIPA appoints advisory council

The Long Island Power Authority has created a 19-member advisory panel to examine the power company’s finances, legal structure and business model.

The panel includes elected officials, energy experts and business and financial leaders throughout Long Island. Its goal is to map out the future of the 10-year-old authority and determine the best model to deliver energy to its more than 1 million ratepayers.

LIPA owns the Long Island’s energy transmission and distribution system. It is responsible for all the management, financial, legal and energy planning for that system, which is operated by National Grid under contract to LIPA.

LIPA purchases power from the National Grid plants and pays for their fuel, operation and maintenance.

7 comments

I am delighted that a Board has been convened. I don’t see representation for the small businesses. Since small business is the undisputed backbone of Long Island, I’d like to see representation from the SBA or SBDC.

I am pleased to see such a distinguished panel of politicians, legal and CEO representation. The panel will do well in addressing the legal, financial, and business model.
However, I sense a lack of technical and business marketing representation from the community at large that LIPA serves. I believe that this is a fundamental weakness in the representation of the panel.

Steven Friedman-Strategic Business Marketing Manager for the Defense Industry on Long Island for the past 3 decades.

Another panel to sit and talk about things instead of
doing them. And notice that the panel was created by LIPA to study LIPA. Sounds alot like what we’re seeing on Wall Street where the guys being regulated set up the committee to regulate themselves. Really going to get a lot done.

Plus look who is on this panel:

- Kevin Law – why is he there? The whole idea about
the panel is to talk about him.

- Matt Crossen – this guy hasn’t contributed anything
useful to this community in years. Can we really
expect to see anything different now?

- Gordian Raacke – watchdog for the downtrodden my
butt. Gordian’s job is Gordian – he’s been on LIPA’s
payroll for years.

Rest of the people some good guys (note “guys”) Not many women on this committee. Too bad we only take up 51% of the population.

LIPA. Want to do something right for a change? Open a real committee. Create real dialog. Actually do things for the betterment of Long Island. Probably too much to ask.

Long Island needs a radical overhaul of LIPA and its rate structure if it is to survive as a economically viable region. The promise of Lipa; lower rates and energy decisons based on ratepayers needs not corporate profits, will never be fulfilled if we continue to be saddled with $6 billion of shoreham and power plant related debt. The promise of reasonable and affordable electric rates like those of pubic power authorities across the country is impossible unless a tougher, citizen-oriented board is elected and in charge of driving the agenda.

Unfortunalety, Lipa is in in danger of becoming another insulated and isolated state authority that exists to maintain the status quo. It is intersteing that Assemblyman Bob Sweeney and Steve Englebright are not included on the advisory committee as they were strong critics of the original LIPA configuration, arguiing at the time, that it would become another impenetrable and insulated state entity without real citizen oversight and a board that was elected instead of apponted.

Assemblyman Englebright is the only LI assembly member among the LI delegatiuon that serves on the Assembly’s energy committee and was there when Long Islanders rose up and got their elected officials to task on the old LILCO.

I agree. There definitely is a lack of representation for the majority ratepayer here. Its the same old “stuffed shirt” syndrome.

Considering the support we, The Long Island Solar Industries Association (LISEIA)have been giving LIPA I felt that a representative from the Solar industry would have been appropiate in this case, unfortunately I was to be disapointed again when I learned of the forming of this committee.

Bottom line! No representation for “Joe” the plumber.
This needs to change.